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Brazil lifts Zika emergency as cases drop by 95 percent

Just Earth News 12 May 2017

Brazil lifts Zika emergency as cases drop by 95 percent
Rio de Janeiro, May 12 (JEN): The Brazilian health ministry has declared the prevailing Zika emergency over as cases have come down significantly, media reports said.

Zika related cases in Brazil have dropped by a whopping 95 percent between January and April, compared to the corresponding period a year ago, BBC reported.

The virus had affected almost 30 countries as the World Health Organisation imposed an international emergency.

However, WHO lifted the emergency in November last year.

Zika virus has been linked to the birth of babies with small heads.

After imposing a national alert in November 2015, Brazil initiated a campaign to eradicate the mosquitoes (A. aegypti and A. albopictus) responsible for spreading the disease.

In a statement in Portuguese, the country has stated that though there were eight deaths related to Zika virus last year, no death has been recorded in the ongoing year.

Zika virus can also spread through sex.

The first case was identified in Uganda in 1947, in monkeys.

The Zika virus trace in human was recorded in 1954 in Nigeria.

As of now, there in no treatment for Zika virus related cases.

The name Zika comes from the Zika forest of Uganda, as the first case was identified there.

 

images: Screengrab from YouTube